Blood in the Water
by Archer the Undreamed
Summary: Sakura wakes up after her disastrous Chuunin exam match and starts re-evaluating. But nothing would have really changed, if Akatsuki hadn't come to Konoha early.
1. Chapter 1

Sakura woke up to the mechanical hum of medical equipment and the overwhelming tang of disinfectant.

She blinked slowly, to take in her surroundings. Was she in the hospital? Or a medical facility in the Forest of Death? There almost had to be one there, after all. She tried to look around, but the stark blankness of the room was hurting her eyes. The fluorescent lights buzzed over her head, bathing the already white room with obnoxiously bright light. Her whole head felt like it had been squished by a giant summons. Her ears rang and her eyes hurt and it was all just too much to take right now, so she squeezed her eyes shut again and desperately tried to think of a happy place. Her room, with her (much, much more comfortable) bed, the long pink curtains, the smell of her mother's cooking wafting up the stairs.

It wasn't working- the smell of disinfectant and soap was too overpowering for her to dismiss. Her lips felt dry, too- it was kind of painful. It wasn't nearly as bad as the soreness in the rest of her body or her migraine, but it certainly wasn't helping.

Sakura gave it up as a bad job and ran her tongue awkwardly over cracked lips- the taste of blood combined with her rank breath made her grimace.

_'__How long was I out? Couldn't have been too long. It's not like this bed is that comfortable- then again, I was probably unconscious.'_

Sakura sat up slowly and painfully aware of the protest of each muscle group involved. She cautiously shielded her eyes from the light and scanned the room. Her belongings were stacked on the table in the corner- and there was a new outfit for her to wear (most likely brought by her mother, judging by the fact that it was a regular dress, and not any sort of ninja clothing). There was a solitary flower by the bed with a card- Sakura's heart jumped. Was it from Sasuke-kun? Or even Naruto- she honestly wasn't going to be picky today.

Her first reach was halted by the tubing coming out of the crook of her elbow. Sakura grimaced, using her left hand to straighten the iv as much as possible.

_'__Nice. I'm so powerless that someone hooked me up to a machine.'_

That thought was gross and depressing, so she ignored it. She reached out to the table and strained for the card, weakly plucking it from the holder with the tips of her fingers.

It was from Ino- her heart sunk a bit. At least it was nice that Ino-pig cared enough to send her a card and flowers, even if the message she wrote was 'Good try, Forehead.'

Disappointment curled in her gut. Sakura let the card drop.

_'__I don't know why I thought my teammates might have sent me anything.'_

They didn't really spend much time with her outside of team practices, and they were pretty clueless. And she probably had only been in the hospital for a day or less, they hadn't really even had time to visit yet.

Still, it hurt. She would have visited them in the hospital. Wasn't her team supposed to be there for her for these things? Hinata-chan's teammates were always right there with her, and Ino's team moved as a cohesive (if slow-moving) unit. It seemed like Team 7 was the only one that never got the picture. She saw Teams 8 and 10 out to lunch together, practicing (outside of mandatory practices), going to movies and festivals.

Team 7 didn't do any of that. She couldn't even get her teammates to spar with her seriously. Sasuke just 'tch'ed from the back of his throat and walked away, and Naruto continually tried to ask her on dates.

Maybe she should have taken him up on one of them- she felt pretty damn lonely right now.

_'__If it weren't for these stupid exams, this wouldn't have happened.'_

Sakura buried her face in her pillow, trying to ignore that she knew perfectly well that the chuunin exams had only made obvious what had already been true.

She was dead weight to her teammates. They were kilometers ahead of her in ability, and they never worked with her like they worked with each other. It just wasn't even considered as an option. Occasionally they would go to her for a strategy or Sasuke-kun would throw her a bone by allowing her to point out something he'd already seen, but…

_'__That man… Orochimaru. He didn't even look at me. The boys were strong enough to actually fight him, but he didn't even acknowledge me. I'm so much weaker than Naruto and Sasuke-kun. No wonder they don't have anything to do with me.'_

Sasuke-kun's performance hadn't been shocking- amazing, but not unexpected. He had always been cool and talented beyond his years. But Naruto had been the weakest, most pathetic graduate out of their cohort. Not only had he won his match against Kiba, but he'd been able to stand his ground against Orochimaru in the forest of death. Sakura couldn't even beat Ino.

_'__How am I ever going to catch up?'_

She wasn't nearly that strong or brave.

No- what she was, was ANGRY.

At herself, at her teammates –_they wouldn't have come to visit her in the hospital if she'd been there for a month_- at her Sensei, who preached teamwork but never taught it, at Ino- who had been right all along and only wanted to support her (it didn't make that any easier to take, Sakura didn't want her pity), at Konoha- they wanted her to fight and die for a fucking stretch of dirt and a stupid mountain and didn't even know an S-class missing-nin was hanging out in their Chuunin Exams, at everything.

She wanted to rage at the sky, to scream and hit things and then go home and have a long warm bath and sleep for a year. If she didn't confront it- if she didn't talk to her teammates (not that they'd notice, the first time Sasuke had cared about her was actually an excuse to be horrifying and malicious), if she didn't deal with the anger and pain she was feeling… maybe it would go away. Maybe if she waited long enough the resentment and loneliness (she was so pathetic to never be able to be alone) would disappear and she could go back to pretending she was happy with the way her life was going.

Except she hadn't been pretending that well to start with, had she? She yelled at Kakashi-Sensei (she couldn't stand him and his obvious perverse preferences, his tardiness, his lackadaisical attitude towards her education), she hit Naruto (his yelling, his stupidity, his single-mindedness in treating her like a goal to achieve instead of a person), and she fawned over Sasuke (even when she intellectually knew it wasn't entirely about her crush anymore, but an attempt to return any sense of normalcy to her life- too much was changing, too fast).

If her team hadn't even noticed, and her Sensei hadn't talked to her about it (it wasn't like she hid her discomfort that well, hell, the dango vendor she frequented had noticed for fuck's sake), it was unlikely that that was ever going to change.

Sakura looked longingly out the window into the altogether-too-bright streets of Konoha and heaved a sigh. She could leave, but it was inadvisable for her to remove her own IV. She avoided looking down at it and instead fumbled with her other arm to find the call button for one of the nurses.

They removed her IV with a smile after running a few tests to make sure there wasn't any permanent damage and let her check out with no fuss. It wasn't surprising. A few scrapes, bruises, and being unconscious were a pretty tame list of symptoms for a patient in a shinobi village. They would probably want that bed available for somebody that was actually injured- not a pathetic little Genin with a few bumps.

Even though she was angry at her teammates, it didn't stop her from being hopeful as she asked the nurses if anyone visited her while she was out.

The answer was as depressing as it was expected. Sakura shuffled out of the hospital on leaden feet, unsure of what she should do. She could try to find her teammates and see if Naruto had passed on to the final round – but she didn't really want to know. They'd probably both move on to become Chuunin and she'd be left in the dust. Sakura didn't really want to deal with that today.

Maybe she'd go see Ino- Sakura was starved for company and missed Ino terribly, actually. But Ino-pig might just taunt her, and besides- seeing her would just make Sakura think of her terrible showing in their fight. Maybe she would just go home.

Her fist tightened around the solitary flower Ino had sent her- a sprig of Edelweiss, meaning 'courage'. Sometimes Ino really was sweet, when she wanted to be.

Courage would be seeing her teammates, telling them exactly how she felt. Courage would be asking her Sensei what she needed to do to improve, or talking to Ino and trying to rekindle their friendship. Ino had already even made the first move.

Sakura would try to be a little courageous today, she decided with some trepidation._ 'Every journey starts with a single step.' _she reminded herself. _'But I have to start today.'_

* * *

><p>She found Ino at the barbeque restaurant Team 10 favored. Chouji and Shikamaru were eating their food, but Ino broke away and leapt across the table at Sakura.<p>

"Forehead! You got out of the hospital!" Ino gushed cattily. "I was afraid I'd have put you in there for a week." She leaned forward conspiratorially and lowered her voice a little. "Your head is messed up, Forehead. You should probably see a shrink about that."

Sakura stiffened. She had forgotten the oppressive (and insulting) nature of Ino's love. It chafed – because she wasn't broken, dammit, she just had two voices and there was nothing wrong with that. She hadn't had a psychotic break or anything, and it helped her keep things straight sometimes.

"Chouji! Shika! Move over, Sakura's sitting with us!" Ino commanded, pointing a finger at Shikamaru in particular. "And don't you sigh at me."

Shikamaru obligingly kept his mouth shut (smart man, Sakura commended, it was easier and less painful to just do what Ino wanted and crawl away on your belly once she'd turned her head) and Chouji scooted over and made some room on the bench next to him. He smiled and patted it in a kind invitation, so Sakura skittered over to take a seat. Chouji was nice.

"So, Forehead." Ino started, sounding imperious, "all of us are getting together tomorrow for dango. Kind of a pity party thing for those of us that didn't make it to the finals, and a celebration for the few that did."

"Who made it?" Sakura croaked, knowing that she didn't really want to know right now. But Ino didn't notice her discomfort and plowed forward.

"Lazy-bones over there, Shino, and your two teammates." Ino said off-handedly, picking at her salad. She appeared to have already eaten all the tomatoes out of it, and most of the cucumbers. Ino liked to eat things in organized groupings.

Then the last part of her sentence hit Sakura like a runaway cart. _'Did all the oxygen just whoosh out of the room?_' Sakura felt a bit lightheaded.

_'__Of course they made it.'_ She balled her fists in her lap, hidden from Ino under the table. _'I already knew about Sasuke, anyway. Is it really so surprising that Naruto-baka made it, too?'_

But telling herself these things didn't make the acid taste in her mouth go away. Sakura pulled the corners of her mouth into the practiced smile she'd used for years. She even crinkled her eyes for added sincerity. "That's great!" She chirped, noting the gnawing emptiness in her stomach that accompanied the lie.

"You're the only one on your team that didn't make it." Ino frowned, delicately picking out a slice of cucumber and popping it into her mouth with a crunch. "I mean, it's not surprising-"

"I have to go." Sakura blurted out suddenly. 'Why did I think hanging out with Ino was a good idea, again?' She shot up to her feet and gave a fake smile of apology to Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji. "I forgot, I have somewhere I really need to be. I'll see you later!"

She was going to avoid these people for at least a month, but telling them that sounded rude. Sakura just wanted to crawl under a rock and die. Or at least shower until the stink of failure was off her and she could stand going outside to train again.

Sakura bolted out of the restaurant like it was on fire.

Ino blinked slowly three times and turned to Shikamaru. "Was it something I said?" She asked with obvious confusion. "I mean, we didn't graduate that long ago. Tou-san says it would be odd for any of us to be promoted at all."

Shikamaru huffed. It wasn't worth the time and effort to explain to Ino that Sakura was obviously sensitive about the subject. Ino had handled the situation with her usual lack of tact and this was the inevitable conclusion.

They'd work it out eventually. Ino could be pig-headed sometimes, but eventually she'd swallow her pride and apologize.

Sakura didn't even make it out of the business district before she ran into someone she wasn't quite rational enough to deal with at the moment.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto called from his seat at Ichiraku Ramen, noodles slipping out of his mouth and back into his bowl.

Sakura restrained a grimace. How had she forgotten that Ichiraku was right here? In her desperation to escape Ino, she hadn't remembered to take the long way around. Because while Naruto wasn't always here, it was the second best place to find him- right behind his apartment.

"Hey, Naruto." She said without any feeling. If she was lucky, Naruto would go on like he usually did- or maybe Sasuke would show up- and forget she was there. Then she could leave.

"You feeling okay, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked with mild concern. "You don't sound very happy."

_'__I was in the hospital unconscious, you unparalleled jackass.'_ She wanted to growl, but carefully didn't. Instead, she favored him with a thin smile. "I'm fine, Naruto."

"Bastard left earlier, didja see him?" Naruto slurped up the rest of his ramen and set the bowl down on the ramen bar.

"Sasuke-kun left?" Sakura asked carefully, avoiding the insult. She didn't feel like playing this game right now. It was tedious and she was exhausted and disappointed.

"Yeah!" He examined his bill from the waitress and carefully placed the correct amount of money next to his plate. "Kakashi-sensei took him to start training for the finals."

Of course he did.

"Sensei said they'd be gone the whole month, so not to worry about them." Naruto stood up and scratched the back of his head with a wide smile.

_'__It must be nice when your Sensei tells you things like that._' Sakura didn't move. She was frightfully close to throwing a massive fit and punching Naruto directly through a wall. Since this wasn't directly his fault, she restrained herself. Barely. She could feel the involuntary tightening of her muscles, begging to unleash hell on her poor stupid teammate.

"Did he say what we were supposed to do?" Sakura asked carefully.

Naruto jutted out his lower lip and twisted his face in concentration. After a moment, he shook his head. "He told me to meet my Sensei for this month at the hot springs. But he didn't say anything about you."

Sakura was seeing red, but she valiantly restrained the urge to beat Naruto into a bloody pulp. It wasn't his fault their Sensei was such a total pile. She turned away, no longer willing to endure Naruto's presence for the sake of politeness. Today had been a long and disappointing day. She'd just go to their team's bridge tomorrow, doubtless Kakashi-Sensei had arranged for her temporary teacher to meet her there when he realized she wouldn't wake up before he left.

She was going to take a bath and get some sleep. Then tomorrow she would be able to start training in earnest. Sakura just needed some time to gather her wits.

"Ne, Sakura." Naruto hadn't gotten the social cue that she wanted to be alone and was easily keeping pace at her side. "Since Sasuke-teme won't ever date you, want to go on a date with me?"

Before she could even think, she brought down an angry fist on top of Naruto's head. "NARUTO!" She bellowed, furious and entirely too done to deal with his shit today. He fell to the ground, stunned. Sakura barely registered the kind of brutality she was inflicting through her haze. Before she knew it, he was on the ground covered in dust, and she was walking away towards her home. She just had to get through the front door and this nightmarish day would be over.

Hopefully, Naruto would suddenly develop some sense and leave her alone for a while.

"Sakura-chan, come back! I didn't mean to imply you were an undateable hag! Honest!"

She just walked faster.


	2. Chapter 2

Stealth was key in an observation mission. It required real finesse, no small amount of charm, and the ability to be as unobtrusive as possible.

As was to be expected, Kisame was pretty pants at stealth. For an S-ranked missing-nin, anyway. It just wasn't his style.

He was still more than talented enough to evade a flock of stupid-looking Chuunins on border duty.

"Kisame."

Kisame turned a pointy smile in his partner's direction. True to form, Itachi didn't even appear to acknowledge it.

"Your humming. It is… disturbing. And is a threat to our mission."

"I thought we needed better theme music." Kisame casually rolled out his neck and then readjusted his idiotic bell-hat. "This sneaking shit is way over-rated."

Itachi didn't dignify that with a reply, instead choosing to stare blankly into Kisame's eyes until he felt a shiver run up and down his spine.

"Kami, you are just the creepiest kid sometimes, 'Tachi." Kisame complained good-naturedly. "Fine. I'll be very quiet and won't disturb your precious observation mission. But the kid's only a Genin, isn't he?"

"I do not know." Kisame saw the slightest twitch on the side of Itachi's mouth, indicating his extreme irritation. "That is the reason we are observing."

Pein had given them some free reign as to how and when they would capture the nine-tails' jinchuriki. Itachi had really drug his feet, but Kisame eventually wheedled him into using the convenient distraction of a Chuunin exam to at least see what they were up against. If all went well, they would capture their jinchuriki target now before it was decently trained. Then they could get their next assignment. There were still more jinchuriki than Akatsuki teams.

Capturing the nine-tails while Konoha was preoccupied with a Chuunin exam and multiple foreign nin would be relatively easy and very efficient. Kisame liked efficient.

The rest of the trip into Konoha proper was made in mind-numbing silence. Itachi and Kisame slipped in with a group of civilians. Itachi genjutsu-d the gate guards into a nodding stupor and they just walked into the village.

Frankly, it wasn't how Kisame would have chosen to show up. But this was Itachi's home village, and if the boy had some misplaced sentimentality for this shit-hole Kisame would at least make a token effort to not raze the thing to the ground.

They avoided detection easily and merely walked into the market district, where Itachi seemed to think they would find their target.

"NARUTO!"

Kisame's ears were far from sensitive, but he nearly twitched in response to the sudden pain.

The source wasn't hard to locate. A tiny, pink haired girl lifted the jinchuuriki up into the air and swung him with a sickening sort of nonchalance. When she let go, he flew into a clay building with a satisfying 'thud'.

_'__A kid like that has some potential.' _

Itachi made a tiny croaking sound to his left, but it sounded really far away and distorted- like Kisame was underwater.

Kisame watched as the delicate preteen then picked up a chunk of the building she'd broken and threw it on top of the jinchuuriki lying in the mud. Then she daintily kicked him in the ribs for good measure and dusted her hands.

She made a pleased little sound before primly walking away. Kisame jerked forward –not sure what he was going to do, but hell if he wasn't going-, but Itachi stepped in front of him with practiced grace.

As Kisame watched, the jinchuuriki slowly removed himself from the debris and tried to brush off some of the cement dust. But he appeared to give it up as a bad job when he saw the little girl walking away.

"Sakura-chan, come back! I didn't mean to imply that you were an undateable hag! Honest!"

"He's suicidal." Kisame muttered, and Itachi made that small noise from the back of his throat that said he agreed. "We should probably collect him before he gets himself killed."

Left unsaid is that this wasn't for the idiot child's benefit. If he died, Akatsuki would either have to find a new plan or wait about 100 years for the bijuu to re-form.

The scent of yakitori wafted on the breeze and tickled at Kisame's nostrils. His stomach grumbled in response- well and truly sick of tiny roasted forest animals and nutrition bars.

It wouldn't hurt if they stayed in Konoha overnight, would it? After all, Itachi apparently had some business to take care of while they were here- a contact to meet, or something, Kisame wasn't going to pry into his partner's personal affairs- and it wasn't like they were in a hurry.

Kisame looked at Itachi evaluatingly. They were already ahead of schedule in having located their target- who was obviously in the village and dressed like a fucking traffic cone. He would be easily located tomorrow. No rush there. But once they picked up the gaki they would have to beat it out of Konoha- regardless of whether Itachi had finished his business or not.

The solution was as obvious as it was desired. They could eat real food and meet Itachi's contact tonight, then pick up their jinchuriki in the morning.

"Tomorrow." Kisame amended, waiting for his partner's input. Itachi stood still for a moment. Slowly, he nodded.

"That is acceptable."

* * *

><p>The next day, they had absolutely no luck in locating their wayward idiot. "He nearly ran into me yesterday." Kisame grumbled uncharitably. "And now we can't find him at all. Kids are so inconsiderate."<p>

As per usual, Itachi just stared quietly off into the distance instead of eating his dango. The customers around them chattered and bustled around the outdoor tables, providing some decent background noise. It was hard having only Itachi- 'the Mute Wonder' around sometimes.

The stand was really busy- all 6 outdoor tables were occupied. It had been even more crowded the night before when Itachi had wanted to come here, but this afternoon they'd beaten the worst of the crowd and claimed their own table. Really, the tables fit 6-8 people but somehow no one wanted to ask the gigantic shark-man if he was willing to share space. The other customers were genin and civilians- too unaware to know who Kisame or Itachi were, and too inexperienced to fight them even if they did. It was almost relaxing.

Kisame huffed. "Teenagers. Eat your food, kid. You're still growing."

Itachi gave him a look that said he knew full well that his growth spurts were over.

"At least I hope so." Kisame amended. "You're so damn tiny. Maybe you're great at fighting ninja, but I think a stiff breeze would do you in."

Itachi sullenly pulled a piece of dango off the stick and put it into his mouth. Kisame grinned. "See? I'm great with kids. So, back to what we were talking about yesterday-"

"Well, what do we have here?" A gruff-looking Jounin puffed his cigarette, unintentionally blowing the smoke into Itachi's face and dango. Itachi's mouth twisted into a moue of disappointment.

"Uchiha Itachi." The red eyed woman behind him accused. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, we were trying to eat, you rude bastards." Kisame grumbled. "But you've ruined our food. So I guess we'll just take your blond idiot jinchuuriki and go on home then."

The people around them stilled. "Naruto?" A wild-eyed boy with a puppy asked from the gaggle of Genin a few tables over. "I thought he left with that Toad Guy-" someone wisely clamped a hand over his mouth, but the damage was already done. The red-eyed woman looked increasingly ill.

"We could take this outside?" She asked queasily, backing a few feet away to allow Kisame and Itachi room to leave.

Itachi stood and walked out of the restaurant, leaving his uneaten (smoky, Kisame frowned) dango on the table. Kisame sneered at the Jounin, who quickly skittered out behind Itachi.

Kisame's partner led them to a bridge overlooking a lazy stream. It was apparently an unpopular place, as Kisame couldn't sense anyone in the area. It was less than surprising. Itachi had never enjoyed extra casualties.

"Oh, no." Kisame faux-grumbled, fingers eagerly unsnapping the holds securing Samehada to his back. "Konoha Jounin. Whatever will I do?" He grinned, and the red-eyed woman in front of him twitched.

"No." Itachi stated calmly. "Now is not the time. Come, Kisame."

"We won't let you just leave." The woman ground out.

She had guts. Too bad they'd be all over the ground soon. Samehada hungered, and Kisame was nothing if not a dutiful caretaker.

"Let me."

It was so quiet Kisame barely heard it, but he stood back and let Itachi do his work. The woman made eye contact with Itachi so quickly Kisame thought it almost had to be a trap.

But no, it seemed to just be criminal incompetence. The Tsukuyomi took hold and she slumped to the ground like a puppet with cut strings. The other Jounin jumped to her aid, but it was already far too late.

"I think we'll be going now." Itachi turned and shunshined away, and Kisame followed in a haze of irritation. It wasn't like fighting those weaklings would have really helped their cause any, but he still wanted to.

A few minutes later, they were safely enough out of range to stop. "I suppose we should report the extraction a failure." Itachi said blankly. "I am loathe to engage the Toad Sannin. It is likely that would lead to both of our deaths."

Kisame grunted. "Fair enough. We can always ask for more backup to get the Nine-Tails."

Itachi looked relieved.

"But while we're here…" Kisame prodded with a grin. "We could pick up that thing I wanted."

"Kisame." But Kisame could tell he was wearing down.

"It's all I've ever wanted." Kisame crossed his arms. "And I'll be great at it, you'll see. And just think- it'll be good for you, too. Konan-san is always saying you should be trying new things-"

"Fine." Itachi's shoulders slumped slightly, a difference so minute Kisame wouldn't have seen it if he hadn't been explicitly looking. "But I doubt the validity of this plan."

* * *

><p>Sakura had just arrived at the training grounds when she realized that she didn't need to be there. Naruto- he'd left late last night with someone he'd described only as the 'Ero-Sennin', and Sasuke- well, Kakashi had taken him yesterday to go train him.<p>

He hadn't given her any instructions, so Sakura had hoped that he might –just this once- have been responsible and caring enough to arrange for a temporary teacher for the month he was gone. A month of training was vital at her stage, or so all the books said. She could… stagnate…

She slumped helplessly.

Sakura already had, hadn't she? And Kakashi knew it, just like Sasuke, and Ino, and everybody else. She had only really graduated the Academy due to her high academic marks. And now that she was out, she just never stood out at all. Sure, she had the best chakra control of the three of them. But Sasuke-kun was Sasuke-kun and great at everything, and Naruto-baka – he'd been surprisingly strong. They were both surpassing her. Had already surpassed her, and she was left behind in the dust and her teacher didn't notice or care enough to even make sure she was being taught for a whole month.

Why was she so dead set on being a ninja, again? It hadn't originally been about Sasuke- she'd started the Academy before she'd met him. She'd definitely stayed for him, but Sakura thought that maybe she'd started for another reason.

_'__Because we didn't want to be average forever.'_ Her mind supplied.

And now here she was. If she hadn't been put on a team with the boys, she'd have been put in the Genin Corps for life. Sakura was honestly surprised that wasn't where she'd ended up. Maybe they'd thought she could do better and were unpleasantly surprised.

Or maybe she was just filling out the third slot on a team that had been meant for greatness. Sakura was just always going to be the third member that no one remembered or cared about. Maybe she'd die young and tragically, so that her teammates would be motivated by her loss to grow ever-stronger.

_'__That would be a stupid reason to die.'_ She kicked at an imaginary rock and scowled.

"You!" A deep voice ground out from behind her. "Shrimp!"

They probably weren't talking to her. But then again, this area was deserted. Who else would be out here to yell at-

"Crap, what's your name... Sakura! Itty Bitty!"

Sakura's last nerve came apart like a knit sweater, and she felt the heat rise up from her stomach into her mouth.

"Who the HELL do you think you are-" She roared, before coming face-to-stomach with a gigantic man. With blue-tinted skin.

This stopped her abruptly. Her brain couldn't possibly find an appropriate response for the situation in which she found herself.

A big hand lifted her up by the collar of her shirt, and Sakura narrowed her eyes reflexively.

"You better hope that fabric doesn't stretch." The threat fell out of her mouth before she could stop it.

The shark man _grinned_, and she was momentarily transfixed by the glint of sharpened (bright white) teeth.

Sakura was reminded horribly of Zabuza- the first person who had made her think she was about to die. He'd had teeth like that. It would be so easy for those teeth to tear her to pieces.

Something in her gut rebelled. No. She wouldn't lay down and die. Sakura bared her teeth in return without thinking about what her bravado implied.

"Oh, you're perfect." He breathed, looking at her like she was a particularly appetizing meal.

And all her bravado slipped away. Wasn't she just thinking something about dying tragically young? She was going to be eaten by a shark person and no one was even going to know until her teammates and teacher came back in a month.

"Oohhkayy…" Sakura went limp in a primal response to a larger predator. Her mind tried to supply why in hell her body would behave like this, but her limbs felt made of lead.

He set her down gently. "I'm sorry, Itty Bitty, I didn't mean to scare you."

_'__That might be true. He probably didn't file his teeth to intimidate me personally.'_

Her limbs regained feeling slowly, and the hand on the back of her neck didn't move. Sakura stared dumbly into his chest, barely registering that he was wearing a really hideous housecoat with red (were those sheep or clouds?) patterns on them.

She puzzled the surreal nature of her problems for a moment.

He leaned down and made eye contact. This time, she didn't move and just stared right back.

"I'm going to teach you to be a great shinobi, kid." The man grinned happily, with another flash of teeth. Sakura suffocated the sudden urge to touch them. They couldn't really be as sharp as they looked. A genjutsu, maybe.

"We need to get your shit."

Maybe her idiot Sensei had really arranged a tutor for her after all? And she had to admit, this one looked like much less of a shuffling loser.

With that in mind, she found her nerve and grabbed the hand off her back with alarming strength.

"This way." She commanded imperiously. "What do I need to get?"

"Ah, everything." Her new teacher said unhelpfully. "All your shinobi clothes, kunai, camping shit…"

She nodded and drug her new sensei to her home. Her mother was in the kitchen, getting lunch ready.

"Ohayo, Kaa-san." Sakura let her sensei's hand go and left him standing in the kitchen. "This is my new Sensei for while Kakashi-Sensei is gone."

Her mother looked New Sensei up and down critically before giving a nod of approval. "You don't look like a lazy bum at all." She said gratefully. Then she flushed. "I'm sorry, my name is Haruno Mebuki. May I ask your name, shinobi-san?"

"Hoshigaki Kisame." He nodded briskly. "Student-san, shouldn't you be getting your things ready?"

"That's a nice name." Her mother smiled. "Would you mind waiting in the front room, Hoshigaki-san? Sakura can take some time when she's getting ready."

"…Sure."

Kisame wasn't sure how this was all going so well. Normally his looks at least invited some scrutiny, but his new student's –Sakura's- mother seemed to be as accepting of him in her home as gravity as a constant force. He wasn't one to argue, however. Kisame took off Samehada and placed her on the coffee table, before he sat down on a floral-printed couch and felt himself sink into the cushions.

_'__Nice.'_ He leaned back and settled in happily.

A comfortable half hour later, he heard the sounds of banging down the stairs. His new student was haphazardly slinging a backpack and a duffel bag with a combined mass larger than her down the stairs.

"Sakura?" Her mother called. "Hoshigaki-san? Lunch is ready."

_'__Oh. There is nothing about this I regret. Poor Itachi, sitting sadly in the forest without lunch.'_ Kisame grinned ferally and grabbed Samehada off the mahogany table.

"So, you'll be taking her for some time, then?" Sakura's mother placed a large bowl of miso in front of him.

"For a while, yeah." If she was terrible. If she was great, the likelihood she'd come back to this dump was minimal. But that wasn't his problem.

Mebuki-san worried her lower lip, and Kisame belatedly realized she was hoping for a bit more information than that. "I think Sakura-san shows a lot of promise." He said honestly, before drinking down half the bowl.

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, would you maybe-" Mebuki-san awkwardly fiddled with the strings of her apron. "Just send me updates sometimes?" She finished with a nervous smile. "I just...I like knowing she's all right."

A reasonable request. "I will." Kisame assured her seriously. If he kept her around he'd send something every once in a while. If Sakura didn't show much promise, he'd have Itachi wipe her clean and drop her off at an orphanage with a pat on the head.

Mebuki-san smiled and set a plate of dumplings on the table.

Kisame snatched one immediately and inserted it directly into his face. When Mebuki-san's smile creaked a little wider, he couldn't help but note that Sakura shared her mother's perfectly even smile and dinner-plate sized eyes. It was mildly creepy, but the food was amazing.

Mebuki-san sent them out the door with a large bag of extra food. "Be safe!" She called, wiping her hands on her pants and waving haphazardly into the street.

_'__This might have been my best decision in a _while', Kisame thought, only slightly bemused that he had been drafted to carry a teenager's luggage. That wasn't going to fly. He made a note to teach Sakura how to use storage seals. And more appropriate packing skills.

"Come on, Sakura. My partner is waiting." He nodded politely to the girl's mother, hefting the duffel bag he was holding a little higher and adjusting Samehada's weight on his back. "Grab my wrist." With the spare hand, he formed the seal to shunshin the two of them back to where Itachi was undoubtedly waiting with a sour look on his face.

* * *

><p>Sakura barely had a chance to register that her new sensei's partner was a dark-haired young man before Kisame-sensei prodded her between her shoulderblades and forced her to run.<p>

"We're on a schedule," he said gruffly, pushing her forwards. She nearly fell over before she convinced her feet to move. "Come on, itty bitty. Show me you're worth something."

She bristled, but didn't say anything while Kisame took the rear of the party. They burnt a red-hot trail out of Konoha. Sakura panted, lungs burning for air and feet aching after only half an hour of the pace that the stranger set.

_'__He wasn't joking. Do we have a mission or something?'_

If she'd had oxygen to spare, she would have asked. They were probably just making up for the time that she had spent packing because awful Kakashi-sensei hadn't bothered to tell her to be ready. It couldn't be much longer.

But they didn't stop. Her eyes prickled, dry from the wind, and she blinked furiously. Jolts of pain shot up her feet and to her knees with every weary step. The thick coverage of unnaturally tall Hashirama trees faded into much smaller deciduous specimens. Clearings became more common. For long stretches of time, she could see off into the distance where dark smoke from Tanzoku Gai's industrial plants spilled up into the sky.

When the man in front of her halted, Sakura was too bleary-eyed and on auto pilot to stop her weary body. He smoothly sidestepped and stopped her with a hand to her shoulder. The hand was almost immediately retracted. She glanced up and caught a sharp jawline turning away dismissively.

If she had been less tired, she might have been self conscious about the fact that she was slick with sweat. As it was, Sakura collapsed to the ground like her strings had been cut, muscles shaking.

"Ha!" An enormous foot toed her in the side. Sakura managed to groan and bat at it, but that didn't make it go away. Kisame-sensei leaned down into her personal space, white teeth shining in the dimming light. "Don't tell me you're tired from running. If that's all that you can do, you're in for a rough ride."

Sakura had been a teacher's pet for the entire duration of her school career, and her exhaustion wasn't quite enough to suppress that Pavlovian reflex. She forced her shuddering body into a seated position and looked up. "I'll do better tomorrow," she promised.

She would because she had to. She wasn't going to get another chance.

Something about that must have pleased Kisame, because the kick he gave her shin was friendly. "You'd better. Go clean up, brat. You stink."

Sakura dug deep for the energy to bare her teeth and scowl at him. The effect was undermined by her wheezing.

Kisame-sensei tossed his head back and laughed. He hadn't even broken a sweat. His breathing was perfectly even.

_'__He's infuriating, but he at least wants to help. And he's in really good shape. He can make me a good kunoichi.'_

So she struggled to her feet and looked around.

"There's no water." Kisame's voice sounded from behind her. He had flopped down and started setting up a campfire. "Hey, Itachi. You still have those facial wipes?"

"They are sanitary clothes for cleaning wounds," a smooth voice corrected with a hint of an edge. "I do not keep them out of concern for my complexion."

Kisame snorted. "Whatever you say." Cellophane rustled. A moment later, a small blue package hit directly in the center of Sakura's chest. She looked down at it dumbly, hands moving to catch it only belatedly.

There was a moment of quiet.

"That was just sad, girl. That was an easy throw."

She pressed her lips together and bent to scoop up the package. Curiosity fed by the adults' banter, she couldn't help but read the text. Minimize pores! Fight blackheads! Feel refreshed!

_'__These are definitely facial wipes.'_

That didn't stop her from peeling the plastic open and enjoying the cold, citrusy burn over her face, neck, and arms. That was about all that she could clean around her rank, damp dress. It was so much better than nothing.

"We're not going to look," Kisame-sensei said dryly. "Pick out a change of clothes and go behind that tree."

Her face flushed, but he was right. She unzipped the bag next to him and grabbed the first thing she found. Sakura didn't register the appalled look on his face until she was halfway across the clearing with her spare dress in hand.

"Sakura," he called out, voice gruff. "Are all your clothes like that?"

"No." Affronted, she wrinkled her nose and pulled fabric over her head. "I wouldn't wear the same thing all the time. That'd be boring."

The silence that followed that was appalled. When she stumbled back to the now crackling fire with her sweaty hair piled up on her head, it was to the sight of her accumulated shinobi clothes strewn over the ground.

"Sensei?" she asked dubiously, furrowing her brow at the mess.

His mouth opened, then shut. He stared off into the sunset as if looking for divine aid.

"Do you have any other clothes suitable for a shinobi?" The same smooth voice from earlier inserted.

She swiveled over to the speaker, the man who must be Kisame's partner. "I. Ah." Her voice caught in her throat.

He was very, very good looking, with a kind of cool casualness that screamed he was well aware of his visual effect. Sakura shrunk back a little, ears hot.

_'__I think he's the most beautiful person I've ever seen.'_

She wouldn't usually call a man beautiful. His features were delicate, but the most striking aspect of his appearance was his coloring. Sakura was a pale girl for a Fire Country native, but she was several shades darker than his perfectly even skin. Her eyelashes and conditioner-smoothed hair had nothing on his silky, blue-black hair—just a hint lighter than his eyes. No matter how she looked, she couldn't pick out where his iris bled into his pupils.

_'__I could stare into his eyes all day.'_

That was, of course, when she realized that she had been staring. Sakura hastily averted her eyes.

_'__What did he ask me?'_

"Your clothes?"

Had she said that aloud? The cold bite to his words made her worry that she had.

She glanced up at him against her will and wished she hadn't. He was gorgeous, yes, but utterly untouchable, features coldly unamused. Despite his comparatively petite frame, the ramrod-straight angle of his posture made it feel as though he was looming over her. "Ah, no." She admitted, looking down at her feet. "My sensei never said there was anything wrong with what I'm wearing now."

"Your sensei is an unmitigated moron." Kisame-sensei said gruffly. "We'll have to get you new clothes."

Wait. What was going to happen to the clothes she had now?

Kisame-sensei used a stick to pick up a yellow cowl-necked shirt and toss it onto the crackling fire. She winced bodily as the fabric went up in a fabulous whoosh.

She had to lean in to understand his growling. "I don't know what he was thinking. Your hair already screams 'hit me', maybe he was trying to convince the enemy to aim there? Hell, you even gave them a helpful target." He gestured violently to the Haruno clan symbol on her shirts and tossed another one of them on the fire, still using his stick. A fresh wave of the awful stench of burning fibers assaulted her nose.

She felt hopeless. Was that really what Kakashi-Sensei had been doing? It wasn't like he'd ever sat down with any of them about their clothes that she knew of. Naruto-baka still wore that hideous orange tracksuit. She looked reasonable in comparison, she was sure.

So maybe Kakashi-sensei really was just a total idiot. Was she surprised? Or maybe he was waiting for them to figure it out on their own.

Either way, it was apparent that those clothes had to go.

"But it's not like you don't stand out a bit." She offered weakly. "Do I need to dye my hair, too?"

Kisame-Sensei huffed. "No, you don't need to dye your damn hair. We just need to get you clothes that aren't perilously stupid. Why did you think a dress was appropriate for work?"

Sakura glared hatefully at him. She desperately did not want to answer that question, because the answer was that she didn't. She wore it in a vain effort to make Sasuke look at her. She already knew it was stupid and impractical, which is why she had to wear shorts underneath. And if she got caught in combat, she had to slit up the sides a bit more.

"If this is about a boy, I don't want to hear it." Kisame-Sensei said after a long silence. "I'm taking your silence as agreement that you know the damn thing has to go. Itachi?"

The beautiful man nodded quietly before opening his own gear and pressing a pair of pants and a mesh top into her hands. He was close enough to her that she could see the color of his eyes.

_'They look a lot like Sasuke-kun's.'_ Her mind whirred. Now that she was thinking about it, the resemblance was uncanny. Same chin, same eyes...

But unlike Sasuke-kun, he wasn't really there. His gaze gave her the impression that he was looking at something in the distance that she wouldn't be able to see.

And bizarrely, something flip-flopped in her stomach.

_'__What is wrong with my crushes? The more unapproachable, the better?'_

"If you wrap the pants around your ankles, these should work reasonably well for you until we find you something more suitable." Itachi-san said, voice far too steady to be entirely natural as he pointedly avoided mentioning that her wardrobe modifications would have to include wrapping her chest so that the mesh wasn't indecent. Her face pinked.

_'__I have a cute boy's clothes. Sasuke-kun would never lend me his things.'_

Sakura watched her toes and stumbled a bit further into a copse of trees to change yet again, silently acknowledging that she was probably never going to return these clothes.

Not without a fight, anyway.

When she got back, Itachi-san was picking away at her mother's prepared food. Kisame- sensei was going through her clothes and throwing pieces he apparently found particularly offensive into their campfire. A bright purple top Ino had bought her made the flames crackle and turn a sickly greenish color for a moment.

_'__I never liked that shirt anyway,' _Sakura told herself.

"So, Itty Bitty?"

Sakura quickly picked her way to her sensei's side and stood expectantly. She was going to make him like her. She was going to do so damn well that Kakashi-sensei was going to regret abandoning her and looking her over all this time, and she was going to shove Sasuke-kun's nose in it. Preferably after Itachi-san made a public declaration of his undying love for her.

That was about when she actually took a good look at the hitai-ites that her two new best friends were wearing. Blood rushed out of her face like it'd been poured from a pitcher.

Shit.

She would never, ever admit that her initial thought was, _'Kakashi-sensei sent a missing nin to teach me? What was that man __**thinking**__?!' _A moment later reality asserted itself. Kakashi-sensei hadn't done that. He wouldn't do that. He just… hadn't arranged for a teacher at all. He really hadn't cared.

The most awful thing was that she was so tempted to pretend she hadn't noticed and leave with the only adults who had expressed interest in her career. And how bad could they possibly be? Sensei had checked out with her mom. Her mom was a great judge of character.

Sakura shook her head and tangled her hands in her hair, unaware that her moral dilemma was hilariously transparent to the Akatsuki present. They exchanged a slow glance across the fire.

_'This is insane. They're missing nin. I can't go with them. The handbook says so.'_

Sakura didn't entirely realize she had frozen like a rabbit. Itachi wasn't capable of making a sympathetic face, but he did manage to look off into the middle distance and impassively remark, "Were this apprenticeship to fall through, Konoha would not disbelieve that you had been taken unwillingly."

Her pink eyebrows shot up, both at the inherent deviousness of that plan and his willingness to let people think the worst of him to make someone else's life easier. What a good guy.

Kisame-shishou tossed his head back and laughed, the motion eerily familiar. It took a moment to realize that Ino moved the exact same way to toss her hair flirtatiously.

(Kisame-shishou did a much better job looking natural when Ino usually just looked constipated).

"Ne, Itachi. The real question would be coming up with a story for how she escaped back to Konoha."

Itachi-san did not blink. "I left her with you unsupervised for twenty minutes."

Oddly, the banter made her relax. It had been stupid of her to think that Kakashi-sensei had sent anyone for her, she realized in retrospect. But she'd been so eager to believe that she'd entirely glossed over the fact that her supposed stand-in was a massive shark man with a crossed-out Mist hitai-ite. And judging from the gigantic-ass sword on his back, he was no one to sniff at. That he had seen something in her to take her on as a student…

It made her feel warm inside.

Part of her wanted to run away screaming for help. That was Old Sakura, though. The Sakura that didn't do anything risky, the Sakura that would still be sitting at that damn bridge without a thing to do with herself. No training, no sensei, no hope of succeeding. Not even a good chance of living. To live a long life as a ninja you had to either stay a genin in the village or become incredibly strong.

She hadn't even had a chance at the first one. It was a shame it took her so long to realize that. The kind of trouble Sharingan no Kakashi, the last Uchiha, and Naruto-baka got into was always going to be way above her level.

It was just surprising Orochimaru hadn't killed her in the Forest of Death (he needed someone to make sure Sasuke didn't die while unconscious, her subconscious supplied hatefully). Or that Haku or Zabuza hadn't offed her (too weak to even present a challenge, not interesting enough to bother with either). But how long was that luck really going to last? She had needed to get stronger.

And they hadn't cared enough to even try to train her. She was a supplement. The weak little girl on the team. No one expected anything of her but to cry and hide. Was that what they wanted?

Sakura knew full well that she hadn't been as committed to training as she should have been. She'd trained her mind but neglected the physical parts because they were hard, and she wasn't good at them, and she didn't like not being good at things. Especially where Sasuke could see.

And she'd wasted a lot of her time on him. She'd known that before, had danced around that truth like her life depended on it. But when it came down to it she was a non-entity to him, just like she was to Kakashi and everybody else. She knew she was young, that the hormones in her body made her susceptible to devastating infatuations. But she hadn't wanted to think that was what she had for Sasuke (the nature of infatuation, her mind cruelly mused) and he had never seen her as more than a thing. A fluffy, useless, air headed girl that didn't know the sharp end of a kunai.

And he hadn't been entirely wrong. That fact burned.

He hadn't been entirely right, either. And she'd make him see. She would get stronger than him. And once she was past him (past Konoha, those bastards) she would make him watch her walk away.

That went for Naruto, too. He'd liked her, but he hadn't liked her. He didn't know her personality from a goddamn hole in the ground. It was about her hair (exoticized her) and the fact that she had what he considered attractive looks. He wasn't any better than Sasuke, really. He thought she was a breakable little doll. Naruto was the only one who would give her the time of day, and he was too afraid of hurting her to spar with her.

She'd get better than him, too. It would be hard, but it was a goal. And then she'd be too strong for Konoha to bother, and maybe they wouldn't throw little lives like hers away (how many times have they done this to someone, she wondered, how many little dead leaves in the forest).

She doubted she'd really prove anything to the world. The world was too big and uncaring. The only person that had to like or respect Sakura was Sakura. So she needed to make herself someone worthy of that respect. And this Mist missing nin (like Zabuza, maybe stronger, could give Kakashi a run for his money) wanted to give her that chance. She was going to grab onto it with both hands and never let go.

"So, how do you like swords and sharks?" Kisame-Sensei asked genially.

"I like them quite a bit." Sakura admitted easily, shoving her hands into the pockets of Itachi-san's too large (but surprisingly comfortable) pants. "I used to have a stuffed shark when I was little. His name was Lots."

"Lots." Kisame-Sensei looked amused.

She clarified. "For Lots of Teeth."

"Oh, Itty Bitty, we're going to have a great time together." Kisame grinned, and she grinned back. Maybe there was a reason people went missing-nin after all.

* * *

><p>I don't really have anything to say here, but I did want to give credit for 'Lots of Teeth'. It was in a HP fic I read a long time ago about Petunia raising Harry (and it was excellent), but I can't remember the name. I just didn't want to leave that out if at all possible, because it's the cutest thing I've ever read.<p>

I still would like a beta, if anyone's interested. Mostly to review ideas, because I already have an in-house editor. Even though she's sick right now (she got me sick too, boo).


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, Kisame-sensei took her out while Itachi-san went to report to their boss. Sakura didn't ask, and she didn't want to know.

"First of all, Itty Bitty, I'm going to give you a demonstration." Kisame-sensei said genially, clapping her on the back with a large, meaty hand. "I don't want any of this whiny 'I don't even know if you're a teacher worth my time' bullshit. Then we're going to see what you're capable of while it's still feasible for me to return you with a receipt if you suck."

"If I don't suck?" Sakura asked through her teeth, already steadying herself against failure.

"Then I tell you how this works." Kisame-sensei said gruffly. "And I take you as a student on a trial basis."

That sounded… incredibly reasonable. Especially for a missing-nin. Then again, she wasn't even slightly a threat to either one of her companions.

But she wouldn't ever be if she didn't take this chance. Who in Konoha was going to train her? Kakashi?

She forced down the hysterical laugh that threatened to bubble right out of her. Her throat made a tiny choking sound, and Kisame-sensei looked down at her in alarm.

"Just thinking about my other teacher." She clarified a little, running her hands through her hair to put it up in a short ponytail.

He snorted. "Sharingan no Kakashi, that slob?"

She choked a little.

"That is who you're talking about, right?" He asked, eyebrow cocked.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah. He's, um, really strong?" She offered. It was incomprehensibly rude to talk ill of a teacher, even if he really did suck.

"You have good manners, kid." Kisame's mouth twisted in an unkind way. "You don't have to be nice about it with me. I don't want to hear it. He's a good shinobi- in that he's great at killing people- but he's evidently a shit teacher. I want you to be honest."

"All the time?" Sakura asked. That didn't sound like good shinobi policy. Deception was part of the job. If you liked your skin, anyway.

"With me." He clarified. "And Itachi-san, if you want. But he's very well-mannered. And I think he harbors a bit of idolization for Hatake, so you probably shouldn't complain about him to Itachi."

"Not that he'd say anything about it." He snorted suddenly. "Your manners and deception skills will help you when you're on missions. I just don't want it and I don't need it. I need you to be honest, because if there's something I'm bad at teaching you- or you don't tell me you need- you'll just end up dead. I'd be putting far too much work into you for you to end up dead in a goddamn ditch because you can't dispel genjutsu or something."

"Fair enough." She agreed easily. "So, where are we going?"

Her sensei grinned. "Well, to get an accurate demonstration, I'm going to need 'volunteers'. We're headed to a gambling town here called 'Tanzoku Gai'. These gambling houses are full of lies and deceit (Sakura sensed a theme) and there should be plenty of scum for me to demonstrate on."

"Are we getting paid to kill them?" She asked seriously. Getting paid had to be important to missing-ninja. Without a village to support them, food, housing, and clothing would be harder to come by. Civilians didn't like ninja and they didn't want them around.

Plus, Sakura didn't like to think that she may have just signed up for an apprenticeship to a total lunatic.

Kisame-sensei nodded his head. "It's a job I wasn't planning to do today, but since you're here I bumped it up my busy schedule. It should be quick- but it's probably going to be gorier than you've dealt with." He warned somewhat seriously.

"Understood." Sakura had read about sharks at some point, she couldn't remember when. But the books said that sharks killed their prey by grabbing onto them with their many rows of sharp teeth and shaking them to pieces. It tore their food apart so that they could eat it. It only made sense that her sharky sensei would do something similar.

Though she desperately hoped he didn't eat people. He'd eaten normal food yesterday, so that was a good sign, right?

* * *

><p>An hour later, she clung to the top of a building with white knuckles and wide eyes.<p>

His swordsmanship was impressive- if she was trying to think of an underwhelming way to say it. When he arrived, the boss of whatever scum puddle they'd stepped into sent out his own band of missing-nin. There was maybe one Jounin-level ninja, and the rest were Chuunin (judging from the way they easily took the woman's orders).

They rushed him all together, with kunai flashing and jutsu powering up. She could feel the chakra in the air, all the different elements clashing and combining. But Kisame-sensei didn't look worried. In fact, he threw back his head and laughed- the way that had reminded her of Ino only the night before.

_'__He's showing off.'_ She realized, with a gaping mouth. She could almost feel Kisame's smile as he danced between opponents. Kisame-sensei was surprisingly graceful for someone so big. He avoided (or parried, with that sword that looked a bit more like a fucking mace than anything) all their blows with practiced ease, shifting from foot to foot and moving his body like it was water.

Kisame (and she mentally upgraded him to Shishou- if only in her mind-she_ would_ make this work) _flowed _around a nasty lightning attack and used the momentum to swing his sword – it cut through the shinobi like a hot knife through butter. Blood erupted onto Kisame-shishou, the ground, everywhere. And the other missing-nin tensed, like they just realized they were going to die. They probably had.

It almost made her sick, but it was also fascinating to watch. The ninja was just gone- only blood and pieces of meat, lying on the ground. She knew he would stink of blood and bile and sweat when he came back to get her (he'd put her at a safe distance, she was only slightly less vulnerable than a newborn puppy apparently).

Like a shark, she mused darkly. She hadn't been far off at all.

But she was- was she envious? Yes, and excited. She was going to be the best damn apprentice in the history of the world, because Kisame-shishou was awesome and terrifying. And he was strong enough that he looked more like a force of nature than a person as he raised up his hand in a hand sign and summoned a massive wall of water. It crashed through the few ninja left standing (not anymore, under the undertow) and into the building. The windows shattered in an explosion of glass, and the light reflecting off the glass shards and water spray made the whole thing look magical.

That was when she really_ saw_ what she was looking at.

"He swept the whole damn building away." She gasped. More accurately, he'd summoned up enough water to wash the building, its contents, and apparently part of the foundation into the river a little less than a mile away.

(At least he doesn't appear to be eating them, so I was right on that count as well.)

She was still watching the pieces of concrete, metal, and glass sink into the river when her sensei came up behind her. He was wet- he must have used his water jutsu to clean off all the mess. The water droplets fell onto the ground around him with little 'plink' sounds.

"So, what do you think?" He was trying to sound casual.

"How do you do that?" She asked, awestruck and overwhelmed. Her stomach was burning up acid that she could taste in her mouth and she wanted to impress him so badly that her muscles _hurt_.

She could do this, she would do this. And he would teach her to do things like that, so people like Orochimaru and Zabuza couldn't hurt her, so she wouldn't be so painstakingly average.

"Your turn." Kisame-shishou laughed. "Don't screw up."

* * *

><p>Half an hour later she was bloody, sweaty, and angry. The skin on her knees and palms was rubbed raw. The blood was bubbling up and mixing with dirt. It stung like crazy and Sakura was relatively sure that her left arm was dislocated at the shoulder socket.<p>

But she hadn't failed yet. She wasn't doing well by any means, but Sakura wasn't going to let a little thing like logic get in her way now.

Kisame-shishou joyfully exploded out from behind a bush. "I found you, Itty Bitty! You're not very fast." He laughed.

All of a sudden, time slowed down. That's the kind of thing that her team thought about her. She was weak and slow and useless-

Sakura was seeing red.

"BASTARD!" She shrieked, and launched herself directly at Kisame-shishou with her nails out to shred.

He looked surprised and- excited?- as her punch landed on his jaw (smash out those smug sharp teeth) and he flew backwards into a tree. It cracked and he dug his feet in, grinding to a stop in the rocky dirt.

She froze. Oh Kami, had she actually hit him? If she really hurt him he might just kill her and she'd never hit an adult before-

"ATTA GIRL!" He bellowed with a grin. "That's what I wanted to see!" He sheathed his sword that he'd been slapping her around with (he got almost all her chakra, she'd just started running) and put his hands on his hips.

"We start training you tomorrow." He informed her, before eyeing her limp left arm. "Let me see that."

She did so without complaint- then yelped like a kicked puppy when he quickly shoved her arm back in its socket. The pain rocketed up the length of her arm and right up her neck. It almost felt like she'd been stabbed.

"Goddammit!" She cursed, willing the tears back into her eyes. "That _hurt_, sensei."

"You'll have to get used to it." His voice was almost gentle. "Missing-nin don't really have access to health care for every scrape, hime. You have to be tough and careful to take care of yourself."

She sniffed and nodded. "I'll learn, Sensei."

"Good." He stood up, picked her up around the waist and let her hang limply at his side.

He dropped her (surprisingly gently) onto the ground back at their camp. "There's some running water that way." He gestured. "You should get yourself cleaned up before you go to sleep. I'll make something for us to eat."

She nodded with half lidded eyes. _'Chakra exhaustion sucks.'_ Sakura noted for further reference._ 'I feel like a crusty, wrung-out towel.'_

If that was a feeling, anyway. She shuffled to her pack (filled only with things approved by her new sensei) and pulled out her personal hygiene supplies. Sakura didn't want to bathe now, but she knew she would appreciate it in the morning.

Bathing hurt, but she got it over with quickly. She was a bit damp, but she was clean.

Sakura shoved the food Kisame-sensei handed her into her mouth without thinking. Her body went through the motion of eating, but she was too tired to really taste it.

When she dropped onto her sleeping bag Sakura didn't even try to get inside, she just curled in on herself and slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>He woke her up the following morning (the sun was just rising, how long had she been asleep?) with a small jet of water to the face.<p>

"Rise and shine, Itty Bitty!" He called.

Sakura still felt too tired to be properly enraged. Her muscles ached and she felt like she'd gone ten rounds with the Shodaime.

"Don't be lazy, Sakura-chan." Kisame-shishou chided as he stepped on various twigs on his way over to her._ 'How considerate, letting me know he's coming.'_ She thought dazedly.

"I'm coming." She groaned, trying to stretch out her limbs a bit before she got up. Without standing, of course. Baby steps.

"You're going to get another workout today, Itty Bitty. If this is what you want to do, you're going to need to get used to being sore."

_'__That sounds like something my perverted sensei would have said.'_ Because for some reason Kakashi-sensei didn't think any of them would understand sexual references. Sasuke and Naruto didn't, not really, but she and Ino had read their share of romances - complete with fantastic sex scenes. She obviously hadn't had sex herself yet, but that didn't mean she couldn't read up on the proper literature.

But what Kisame-shishou said made sense. If she chose this life she was going to need to harden up, fast. Her chances of survival out here frankly weren't much better in the short-term than they had been in her own village. Sakura pushed down the fear that welled up in her with the reassurance that if she survived Kisame-shishou's training, she'd be one of the baddest bastards out here. She'd be fine if she got that far. It was just a matter of surviving while she was still a little fish in a very big pond.

"Understood." She croaked as she sat up. Her every muscle felt stiff and sore. _'When did I fall on my ass?'_ she wondered vaguely. _'That feels like a bruise.'_

He gave her an up and down look and nodded before he walked back to the campfire. "Come and eat your breakfast. We need to get started. Itachi-san and I are busy people, you know."

Upon being reminded of her Sensei's goodwill Sakura scrambled to her feet quickly, ignoring the pain that accompanied every movement.

"H-hai." She huffed out. Sakura was going to be running on nothing but sheer willpower for a few days, at least. She wasn't physically talented in the slightest (actively untalented, actually), and she didn't recover quickly like Naruto.

She was just going to have to suffer through it.

* * *

><p>Ok, this chapter's a bit short- I'm trying to post every day if at all possible. Reviews are always appreciated!<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Traveling with Itachi and Kisame was a lot like being alone.

In the village, even if her team was off doing other things (abandoning her), she had plenty of other things to do and other people to talk to. Like her mom, if she was home. Or Ino- but they hadn't really spoken outside of insults for a few years there.

So maybe she'd just buried herself inside some books? Yes, that must have been how she'd spent her time.

But now, she spent most of her day training.

Kisame-shishou made her start off her days by running wherever they were already going, at breakneck speed. They went farther and farther each day, but she still felt guilty. She knew she was holding them back- they could have been to Iwa and back by now with their speed and stamina- but it didn't stop her from being grateful that they didn't run her into the ground or kill her for being such a pest.

After she'd collapsed on the ground and regained her breath, Kisame-Shishou would let her know to start the rest of her training.

Then he and Itachi-san would disappear to take missions or do whatever the hell they did while they were gone for hours.

The hot afternoon had changed to a chilly evening, and she was still alone. Sakura was done with her training- at least everything Kisame-shishou had told her to do. None of it required chakra, except for the running. And augmenting her muscles with chakra didn't require much, once she knew how to do it.

Normally, Kisame-shishou would have come back by now and drained her as close to dry as safely possible with Samehada. He said it would deepen her reserves.

She felt he was neglecting to mention that it was a very convenient arrangement for Samehada, because it ate chakra like Naruto-baka ate ramen. And evidently it found hers very tasty.

Sakura didn't really want to think about what that meant for her future if she didn't meet her shishou's expectations.

Maybe she could go water-walking? There was a stream nearby. It wasn't very deep, but it was quick and would give her something to do. Sakura didn't want to be caught loafing around doing nothing when Kisame and Itachi got back. She held them back quite a bit. So she wanted to make sure they thought what they got in return was worthwhile.

Sakura slipped off her worn ninja sandals in the cool mud, and stepped onto the water. She walked around on top of the rushing stream with little effort- and only a few initial splashes.

_'__When was the last time I did this? Was it really back in Wave, when I learned it?'_

That seemed like a waste of a useful skill. Kakashi-Sensei had said it was a great thing to know to get an advantage- being able to run over bodies of water made you much more mobile.

And there had to be other applications for her fine chakra control besides walking on ponds, right? Sakura knew that genjutsu was one of the ninja arts that required good chakra control- the textbooks had always mentioned it. But the Academy never taught her a genjutsu, except for a basic henge.

And Kakashi-Sensei hadn't, either.

But he had used one on her the first day she'd met him. She'd never forget Sasuke battered and bleeding on the ground, crying for her help- and then disappearing when Sensei had dispelled the illusion.

Kisame-shishou was right. Sensei was kind of an asshole. That was a messed-up thing to show to somebody that hadn't even seen combat before. How was she supposed to handle that?

Frustrated, she lost focus of the chakra keeping her feet above water.

Splash! She went knee-deep in what felt like liquid ice. Her feet hit rocks on the bottom with the full force of her weight and the skin on her right heel split open like an overripe tomato as it hit something sharp.

"Fuck!" Sakura gasped, trying in vain to balance on her left foot. But it wasn't her dominant leg, and the current of the water kept pushing her off balance. She could try to get out, but it seemed pretty pointless right now. She was already wet and cold and Kisame and Itachi wouldn't be back for hours, if they were coming back tonight at all.

She was alone for the foreseeable future, and more than a little bit miserable.

_'__Fuck it, I'm going to sit down.' _

Her body adjusted to the cool running water after a few minutes, and a comfortable numbing set in.

Sakura readjusted her legs so that they were crossed and closed her eyes. It wasn't like anyone was there to stop her- to tell her she'd get hypothermia if she was out here too long and didn't dry off, or that it was getting late and she should go to bed.

_'__I never thought being a missing nin would be this lonely.'_

Sakura liked the idea of freedom, but in practice it was kind of terrifying. Kisame and Itachi were never going to make sure she adhered to a bedtime, or ate anything but candy, or anything like the life Sakura had been accustomed to.

And they had something together- something she felt like she was intruding on, when Kisame made a joke and Itachi responded with a dry comment, or how they always seemed to know what each other was thinking.

That was what real teamwork looked like. They moved in concert with each other- they covered for each other's weaknesses and blind spots.

Sakura was just in the way, another variable to consider. All weaknesses and no strengths.

But as awful as it was when it felt like she was interrupting, it was worse when she felt like she wasn't. When they had a mission like today, they left her with their camp like she was no more than a sleeping bag.

Not that she could blame them. If she'd been a dead weight on a team of genin, she certainly had no business going on a mission with Kisame-shishou and Itachi-san. They made Kakashi-sensei look like a bumbling Chuunin when they fought.

She'd have been incredibly depressed if she hadn't known she'd made some real improvements. Sakura had only been gone a few weeks, but she could already feel some changes. Her muscles were more defined, she could run longer, she could lift more.

And this was only physical conditioning. Kisame-shishou had said she'd need to start getting her body and basics up to par before he gave her anything specialized, but he'd already started working on her reserves by forcing her to drain her chakra.

Now that she was concentrating, she could feel that there was more there than there had been before- it was a startling difference. She certainly didn't have the chakra levels of standouts like Naruto-baka or Sasuke-kun, but she had at least as much as Ino. And Ino had had clan training, and been very serious about it.

But the only reason she was improving that so fast was because of the absolute drain Kisame-shishou was putting on her system. It was forced to deepen and change to accommodate her needs.

It would have been very hard to get results like this without him. Generally a person would be physically exhausted long before they reached the levels of chakra exhaustion necessary to change their available pool. At her age it was easier- Genin and Academy students hadn't worked that much with chakra, and they only had natural reserves. But by the time a ninja was a Jounin, they'd probably ceased improving in that area.

In a way, having Samehada around was a bit like cheating - if ninja acknowledged such a thing as existing, anyway. If Kisame-shishou insisted on feeding her chakra to Samehada for a few years until she was useful, she might have reserves as big as his.

Especially since she was at an age where it was easier for her to bounce back from mild chakra exhaustion. Sakura only felt sleepy and slightly sick after a draining, whereas an adult would likely require a visit to a hospital.

The results really spoke for themselves. She'd improved more in the scant weeks she'd been with Kisame-shishou than in the six months she'd spent with her team.

So this hadn't been a bad decision. But was it a good one?

Sakura missed her parents terribly, even though they were always gone on missions. And Ino and Shikamaru and Chouji, they were nice even if they were kind of annoying because it felt like they had all these inside jokes she wasn't party to.

She even missed her team a little bit- missed yelling at Kakashi-sensei and Naruto, and even felt some surprising longing for Sasuke calling her 'annoying'.

Kisame-shishou had been very sure that Konoha would be willing to take her back if she wanted to go, maybe she should?

It wasn't the kind of decision she wanted to make without some long thought, however. She'd gotten herself into this situation by not thinking. It was still one of the greatest turning points in her life, and Sakura wouldn't change it.

If she left Kisame-shishou and Itachi-san to go back to Konoha, she'd probably never find them again. And then her chance to apprentice with him would be gone forever, along with the only two people that had shown any interest in helping her career.

On the other hand, she could only stay out of the village so long before they declared her a missing-nin. They wouldn't send a hunter team after a Genin (that's what Itachi-san had said, anyway), but she'd never be able to go home. Konoha would assume she was dead, and if she turned up she'd be tossed into Torture and Interrogations before she could say "Stockholm's".

They might even be looking for her already. Sakura could just imagine it- Ino crying and regretting calling her "Forehead", Sasuke and Naruto and Kakashi-sensei all regretting ignoring her so much- it would be kind of perfect if only she were there to enjoy it.

And when she came home, they'd all be so grateful to see her. Maybe her team could start acting like one for once. And if they didn't, she'd use her new-found improvements to beat some sense into them.

It sounded so perfect, so beautiful.

The matter required more thought. Sasuke and Naruto forced to watch her from behind as she tore through their enemies like they were nothing but wet paper bags. She'd let them protect the clients while she saved them all.

Sakura hummed happily- and then realized that she was really fucking cold. The air temperature had dropped dramatically while she was daydreaming, and the water was even worse.

She scrambled out and made her way back to the deserted campfire to dry off.

_'__I'll think about this some more tomorrow.'_ She promised herself. _'I can make a decision after the Chuunin Exam is over- it's not like I want to see that anyway.'_

* * *

><p>"Ne, Ero-Sennin, do you think Sakura-chan will like me if I can use Rasengan?" Naruto asked for what had to be the thirtieth time today.<p>

"Sure, kid, whatever the hell you want." Jiraiya grumbled, resigned to having this conversation. Not engaging obviously hadn't shut Naruto up anyway.

Naruto flexed a skinny noodle arm in front of Jiraiya's face. "And once I can, I'll beat Sasuke and she'll love me!" He crowed happily.

Jiraiya brushed off the pale skinny arm with minimal movement. The month with Naruto had been absolutely draining, and the promise of more of that afterwards was starting to make him depressed. Minato had been so dutiful, and solemn. The kid had had a stick up his ass, sure, but he knew how to be _quiet. _Naruto obviously got this from Kushina's side of the family, Jiraiya decided. It would certainly explain why so many people worked together to massacre them.

That was an awful thought. Jiraiya brushed that away, too. He'd wanted this, he reminded himself. He had wanted to take Naruto and train him, to give him what Minato should have been here to give. Then Jiraiya would feel like less of a failure. Not much. But maybe enough so that he could get back to traveling and spying and screwing without horrible nagging guilt all the damn time.

"Sure she will." He said noncommittally, not personally caring if this pink-haired girl Naruto was obsessed with pissed or went fishing. Twelve year olds were uninteresting to Jiraiya in every way possible. They weren't even real people yet. They were closer to dough left to rise on the counter overnight. Later they'd be baked and useful, but right now…

He spared a glance at Naruto and sighed heavily.

At least while the gaki was in his tournament, Jiraiya could check out the hot springs.

* * *

><p>"Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan are late!" Naruto groused ineffectively, kicking the bars of the railing in front of him.<p>

"Sakura didn't make it to the finals, Naruto." Shikamaru muttered. "Perhaps you've forgotten."

Naruto scowled. "I know, but she should still be here to watch us."

Shikamaru would have rolled his eyes but for the effort involved. "Why would she want to sit on the sidelines?" He yawned. "This is loud and busy. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't fighting."

"I would sit and watch her if she had gotten in instead of me." Naruto argued, but Shikamaru just waved a hand in dismissal.

"She might come. Did you ask her?" At the stunned silence to his right, Shikamaru huffed. If he'd run off for a month and hadn't contacted Ino at all, she would be spiteful enough to not come. Hell, if he'd done that it would indicate he didn't _want _her to. _'Idiots are troublesome.'_ Shikamaru thought, resting his chin on the railing and looking up into the sky.

Sasuke showed up mere moments before being disqualified-in a onesie (that made Shikamaru think of his two year old cousin) and a sour expression.

_'He's all ready to face the day, then.'_ Like Kuro-kun with his blankie and bottle.

But Sakura never appeared. She probably was just upset, then. Or training. Shikamaru could sympathize. After being around Naruto and Sasuke again for a few hours, he could truthfully say he'd like to disappear too.

The genjutsu was almost a relief but for what came after it. Shikamaru quickly dispelled it (never even let it settle in his head, he knew the difference between his wanting to sleep and a compulsion) but otherwise didn't move until Ino unceremoniously hauled him from his feet.

Troublesome.

Then again, someone had to watch after Naruto and Sasuke, who had just run after a rampaging jinchuuriki like it was handing out party favors.

"This is supposed to be Sakura's job." He complained to no one in particular, loping from tree branch to tree branch with Shino.

Shino, as expected, said nothing.

* * *

><p>After the smoke cleared (which here means that the gigantic snakes were gone and the enemy ninja had been either killed or incapacitated), it was clear that Konoha had a lot to do. The invading forces had cut swathes of destruction all throughout Konoha, and very few areas were entirely spared. Some Konoha ninjas had died, though the majority of their forces held strong.<p>

All of that paled in comparison to their biggest problem. Their leader was dead. The Hokage had sacrificed himself during the fight in order to disable Orochimaru. This wasn't the best strategy without someone to follow it through and kill the treacherous snake, but it wasn't like the Sandaime would have asked for Shikamaru's advice, even if it was available.

But disabling the arm of an opponent that could just occupy a new body was a temporary reprieve at best. At worst, all the Sandaime had achieved at the cost of his life was to further piss Orochimaru off.

But some people didn't see it that way.

"The Sandaime was a real hero." Naruto said reverently, staring up at the Sandaime's face on Hokage Mountain.

Shikamaru didn't really see the point in debating that with him, even if he hadn't half agreed. It was probably his last choice - not the best of all outcomes, but certainly not the worst.

"Shikamaru?" Naruto asked quietly. That was odd. Naruto was never quiet.

So he looked up met his gaze. Naruto bit his lip and ruffled the back of his head with his hand.

"Ero-Sennin wants me to go with him to find somebody." Naruto admitted, sounding a little lost.

Shikamaru wasn't seeing what this had to do with him so far. "Sounds like an honor, Naruto. Are you going to go?"

Naruto nodded, eyes focused on something in the distance. "But, um, he wants to go now. And I haven't seen Sakura yet..."

"You want me to check on her." Shikamaru supplied with an internal grimace. Troublesome.

Naruto nodded again, and looked him dead in the eye.

He wasn't going to escape without a promise, was he.

"I'll stop by her house and see how she's doing." Shikamaru promised glumly. "Ino will probably drag me there anyway."

Naruto just grinned. "Thanks, Shikamaru. I'd ask Sasuke-teme, but well, he's Sasuke-teme. He's not very nice to her."

_'He's not nice to anyone.'_ Shikamaru wanted to say, but didn't. So he nodded and watched Naruto run off into the distance.

_'Why is everything so troublesome?'_ He wondered, before turning around and shuffling away to find Ino. She'd kill him if he went to see Sakura without her.

* * *

><p>The door was locked and there wasn't any blood or structural damage in the area, so that was a good sign. Shikamaru knocked a few times on the door as Ino fussed with the placement of her floral arrangement. It appeared to say something to the effect of "my condolences about your being single and looking for sex", but he wasn't about to get involved in that.<p>

Haruno-san opened the door somewhat cautiously, but smiled when she saw Ino and opened the door wide.

"It's been some time since I've seen you, Ino-chan, Shikamaru-kun." She beamed. "To what do I owe this visit?"

"Just seeing if Sakura-chan is in, Haruno-san!" Ino chirped from behind her offensive bouquet. "We haven't seen her in a while."

"Ah." Sakura's mother looked slightly pitying for a moment. "She's gone."

"Gone where?" Ino asked, and Shikamaru could sense his flighty teammate start to panic.

"I haven't seen her in a month." Haruno-san admitted with a sad frown. "But training missions like that are normal for shinobi. Is there something wrong?"

Ino opened her mouth but Shikamaru quickly intercepted. "Not at all, we just didn't know." He gave the best disarming smile he could and watched as Haruno-san's shoulders relaxed. "So you saw her a month ago? Like when training before the final matches started?"

She nodded, obviously trying to remember something. "Yes, her teammates were off training. I thought she was with her sensei, that's what I was told." Her delicate mouth twisted in worry. "But I haven't heard from Sakura at all. Then again, when she was on that long mission in Wave I didn't hear anything at all until she was back."

_'Except her teammates were training elsewhere and she wouldn't have been on a mission.'_ Shikamaru's hand closed around Ino's flowers before they fully left her grip. He brought his other hand up to Ino's shoulder and tapped it lightly.

She whirled to face him with obvious desperation. He gave her a reassuring smile and she calmed slightly before bowing to Haruno-san and telling her to have a good day.

As soon as she closed the door properly, they ran directly to their sensei to report.

* * *

><p>Naruto was feeling pretty good about his life right now. He'd learned the Rasengan (well, most of it) and he'd convinced Tsunade-baachan to come back and be Hokage. Now if he could just beat up Sasuke, convince Sakura of his obvious greatness, and get some ramen it would easily stack up to his best day ever.<p>

Or, as he looked at the avoidant and pitying shinobi around him, maybe not. That was odd. He'd never gotten those particular looks before.

But maybe Sasuke-teme had, judging by the way he coiled up tense like a snake ready to strike. Why Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke-teme had also come on their trip was a bit mystifying, unless Ero-Sennin had brought Kakashi-sensei along just to point at him and tell Tsunade-baachan that he would have to be Hokage if she didn't do it. Both of them had looked pretty offended by the statement, but obviously something had worked when Jiraiya said that.

Maybe Sasuke-teme just came along as a package deal, like a ten-pack of instant ramen.

He tried not to notice while people skittered out of their way like rats all the way up to the Hokage's office.

It was odd. He knew the Sandaime was dead, so it wasn't that. He and Sasuke and Ero-Sennin and Kakashi-sensei were all fine, so that just left...

That left...

He bolted up to the Hokage office where Shikamaru's dad and Asuma-sensei were waiting. They looked apprehensively at him, and once Tsunade-baachan had sworn in as Hokage (the official ceremony would have to be held later, Nara Shikaku said quietly before holding out the official laws of Konoha) they shoved his team out the door to wait in the hallway. Ero-Sennin waved as the door shut behind him and the privacy seals activated.

Naruto growled and stalked the length of the hallway over and over. Why wasn't Sakura there to greet him (or even Sasuke-teme, or Sensei)? Not that she had to wait for them, of course. He'd had plenty of time to think about what Shikamaru said before the Chuunin Exams. If Sakura-chan or Sasuke-teme had left him for a month without a word, he wouldn't be happy either.

So he'd practiced an apology, one that Sasuke-teme apparently was entirely disinterested in making. Even when Kakashi-sensei had reminded him that they were a team, Sasuke had just scowled and said it was her own weakness that kept her from advancing like they did.

But thinking about that just made him angry -see red, sometimes, if he was angry enough- so Naruto just walked up and down the hallways, trying to think of all the ways to say he was sorry that wouldn't get him thrown through a wall.

* * *

><p>What felt like hours later, the door creaked open and Ero-Sennin peeked out. Only he wasn't smiling anymore.<p>

"Oh, good." He croaked, sounding like it was anything but, "You're still here."

He pulled the door open further and beckoned them in. Ero-Sennin looked_ old_ in that moment. Naruto didn't like it.

Tsunade-baachan looked serious, too. "Hatake." She addressed coldly, and Kakashi-sensei suddenly stood ramrod-straight. "I have a question or two, if you'll indulge me."

"Of course, Hokage-sama." Kakashi-sensei bowed his head quickly.

Tsunade-baachan pursed her lips and glared. "So, I've been informed that you have a team. Is that right?"

Kakashi-sensei just looked puzzled. "Of course. You've already met Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun."

She held up a finger. "I'm missing one. Teams in Konoha are still made of three, am I correct?"

Kakashi nodded, and squared his shoulders. "Sakura-chan is the third team member of Team Seven."

"Was." Tsunade-baachan corrected with a tight purse of the lips.

"Is?" Kakashi-sensei shifted awkwardly.

"You took Sasuke out for his training between the rounds of the Chuunin exams, did you not?"

"And Naruto was trained under your own teammate." Kakashi-sensei confirmed. Naruto felt his heart sink.

"What training arrangements were made for Sakura, if I may ask?" Shikamaru's dad asked, hands clasped behind his back.

Kakashi-sensei started. "None." He brought his hands up in a shrug. "She didn't make it to the finals, so I gave her the month off."

Tsunade-baachan suddenly looked every year (and maybe more) of her age. "You do know that training at this age is absolutely crucial?" She asked tiredly. "This is the stage in which the groundwork for a shinobi's career is laid. A month without any instruction whatsoever..."

"Is a bad idea?" Kakashi-sensei asked meekly.

She smiled unkindly. "To say the least." Tsunade-baachan looked down at her desk and bit her lip hard enough that Naruto could smell the blood. "But it's much worse in this case."

When did the room get so cold all of a sudden? Naruto found himself closer to Sasuke than he'd ever thought he'd want to be. Sasuke-teme wasn't moving away either. At least it wasn't just him.

"Is she dead?" Sasuke-teme asked hoarsely, hand reaching out to his side. Naruto caught it and held it tightly with his own.

Tsunade-baachan shook her head. "We don't know. We do know is that she was last confirmed seen the day after you two left for your training trips. She wasn't given a sensei-" Kakashi jerked as if hit "and that was the day that two Akatsuki members were also sighted in the village."

"Which ones?" Naruto croaked. Jiraiya had told him about the Akatsuki. Well, not everything. But enough to make him scared.

Nara Shikaku looked sympathetic. "Hoshigake Kisame and-" He paused awkwardly and looked towards Tsunade-baachan. When she nodded, he continued, "Uchiha Itachi."

Sasuke-teme's hand went limp in his, like a dead fish. "He was here?" He turned to Kakashi. "You didn't tell me?" The tone was angry and betrayed.

"...I didn't know." Kakashi-sensei admitted quietly. "We were out of the village."

"Which is also why we didn't know one of our Genin was missing for a fucking month." Tsunade said quietly. She turned to Naruto. "You'll be leaving town with Jiraiya again the day after tomorrow. You're much safer if you're moving around."

Kakashi made a muffled sound from the back of his throat. It sounded like a cough. Or maybe a stifled cry. It was sometimes hard to tell with the mask suffocating sound. Maybe that was why he wore it.

"Hatake." They both watched their sensei carefully. "I don't think I need to tell you exactly how major a fuck up this is. Your Genin is gone, either ready to be ransomed for Naruto, or is already dead. And she wasn't even really trained."

The words hung in the air like a fucked up party banner. "I'd ask you what your plan was for her except it's obvious you didn't have one." Tsunade-baachan sighed and rubbed her fingers against her temples. "So she was a dead girl walking from the start."

"You don't know that!" Naruto couldn't help but explode. "She would have gotten better!"

"How." Tsunade-baachan looked at him seriously. "She was an average student, given no specialties whatsoever, on a team with one of our most famous Jounin, the last Uchiha, and our jinchuuriki. She had some good potential, yes. Her files show some great chakra control. She would have made a good genjutsu specialist, med-nin, or infiltration specialist, or intelligence specialist."

She leaned forward. "But she wasn't trained in any of those, was she."

Naruto tried to remember their training, about a month and a half ago. "We did spars and some chakra control exercises." Naruto shrugged. But that wasn't quite right. "Oh, and our team stuff."

"Some team." Tsunade muttered, eyeing Jiraiya warily. "You're all dismissed."

They didn't really move. "Hatake," Tsunade-baachan said without looking up, "If we give you a team again, I'd prefer it if you trained the girls, too. I know we're weak and infirm," She sneered at her desk, "But I would consider it a personal favor. You have one student left, I suggest you keep an eye on this one."

They shuffled out meekly, and Naruto realized that he and Sasuke had never stopped holding hands. He pulled his away hastily and put it in his pocket.

* * *

><p>So, I'm definitely trying not to bash Kakashi (for he is really awesome, one of my favorite characters), but he is - to be entirely frank, a hideously awful teacher.<p>

Also I was really sick this week (I blame Electraposts and all the horrible things she brings home) and had to delete pretty much everything at the beginning of the chapter because it wasn't working. So that took a while, sorry for the slow update.


	5. Chapter 5

Training with Kisame-shishou was even harder than Sakura could have ever dreamed. She ran for hours every day, she lifted what felt like countless boulders, she trained with whatever sword (or stick) he saw fit to give her.

"A master swordsman can use any sword." He told her one day as she struggled to lift a greatsword for an hour at a time. "That's why we have special ones."

She kept quiet. The lectures were her favorite part. "There are seven." He continued, pacing back and forth in front of her. "Traditionally, you only get one when you're strong enough to kill its former owner. So it's unlikely that you'll get one until you're strong enough to kill me."

"Like Kubikiribōchō?" She gasped, sweat running in rivulets down her face and chest and spine. She felt hot and cold and sore all over.

He stopped immediately. "What do you know about that one, Sakura-chan?"

"Zabuza-san had it." If she had the strength, she might have shrugged. "We buried it with him."

"Kami." Kisame-shishou sighed. "You killed Zabuza?"

"My sensei did." Sakura admitted. "I was there."

He paused. "Technically... but then again," Kisame-shishou mused, tapping his hip. He cleared his throat. "How long had you been out of the academy at that point?"

Sakura scrunched up her face and tried to calculate dates. "Twenty eight days," she announced with confidence.

Her shishou took a deep breath and put a hand over his eyes. "Hell, Itty Bitty, we need to go get it then." Kisame grouched. "You didn't tell me you'd inherited a sword."

"I didn't." It was a question, but she was too tired to make it anything but a groaned statement.

"Close enough. Fudging details is almost as time - honored as ritualistic inheritance by murder. Where is it?" Kisame asked authoritatively, as if her arms weren't threatening to fall off.

"Wave." She grunted, feeling her muscles shudder and weaken.

"I'll tell Itachi we're going on a field trip, then." Her shishou calmly walked off and left her alone in the clearing they'd camped in.

When the timer finally went off, she tossed the sword to her right and slumped to the ground bonelessly.

"Itty Bitty." Her shishou called some time later. "Get ready to go."

She rolled over onto her back and glared at him with all the ferocity she could muster.

"You managed some mild killing intent. Impressive." He looked a bit like a proud father.

The feelings that inspired were contradictory and confusing. Some part of her swelled with pride, long-honed need for the approval of authority basking and preening. The other part of her was eying her shishou's throat and musing that it really would be her best bet as a target if she were to leap at him to put him down for condescending to her and making her move.

It really was an appealing target. Nice and bare, pulse fluttering delicately even between the cords of muscle. She wouldn't even need a legendary sword-

_'Is that why Mist Swordsmen sharpen their teeth?'_ Sakura wondered in a jolt of sudden clarity. _'That would make ripping skin while fighting an opponent with superior weaponry much easier.'_

Possibly the best part was that homicidal sentiment toward her teacher had the gravitas leant by tradition. If only she had known that back in Konoha. Things might have played out differently.

* * *

><p>They found Zabuza's sword (her sword, now, didn't that sound odd) exactly where she and her (former) team had left it.<p>

Kisame-shishou paid his respects while she and Itachi-san stood silently behind him like twin shadows. After a few long minutes, he looked back to her. "Are you going to take it or not?"

She walked up, fear making her hands cold and sweaty. Kubikiribōchō's grip was solid and stuck to the skin of her hands like it was made to be there (because you were, a small part of her crooned, mine now), and she tugged it lightly. Kubikiribōchō moved, and the soft earth it was embedded in crumbled and gave way.

She'd evidently been enhancing her strength (and hitting power, for use against idiotic jinchuuriki) for years, but had never fully understood how. Kisame-shishou had found out, laughed until he nearly choked. She'd never have the actual muscle mass to really lift one of these special swords (first Kubikiribōchō, then the world, she mocked herself, but really she would never ever let anyone else touch her shishou's sword, would die screaming first), but with her excellent chakra control…

Sakura pulled her new sword (and how it gleamed, like the smile of a long-lost friend, how was Ino doing anyway?) out of the dirt easily and swung it back over her shoulder. She wouldn't be able to do that for too long, but Shishou had said that being able to lift it was her first test in seeing if she was even capable to own it. She'd get a bigger chakra pool eventually, but there were only seven swords of the Mist.

Kubikiribōchō was a beauty, to be sure. And strong. She could feel it like the chakra coiled tightly in her stomach, like the blood rushing through her veins.

Her new sword took the iron out of blood to repair itself, or so Shishou had said. Judging by the fact that it was brilliant like diamonds, it had fed on Haku and Zabuza's after they'd buried them. It wasn't so surprising when she realized at least Zabuza had been covered in blood from head to toe, not all of it his own.

Repairing the blade in the blood of its former owner seemed poetic, in a really terrifying sense. She wondered if all the blades from Mist were like that.

She walked back to her Shishou and a carefully blank-faced Itachi with her prize swung over her shoulder in a deceptively casual manner.

And then she grinned widely and waited. Shishou put a terrifyingly (kind of comforting, now) large hand on her other shoulder.

"Congratulations on becoming the official apprentice of a Swordsman of the Mist." Kisame boomed. She got the feeling that this was as close to an official ceremony as she was ever going to get.

"You like her?" He asked with a grin.

She nodded fiercely, pale pink bangs bouncing in and out of her eyes. "Love her."

His wide mouth stretched into a toothy grin. "Be good to her. You'll have to be if you want Samehada someday. She's picky." He lifted his hand and poked her in the collarbone. "You're going to need huge chakra reserves."

_'__That is probably not going to happen.'_

"I'll get to work on that immediately." She said dryly. "Pity. My plan was initially to attempt to suffocate you using that hideous housecoat and blame it on Itachi-san. (When she considered that Itachi-san was a fucking terrifying S-class missing-nin, the only thing that wasn't plausible about that excuse is that Itachi would have succeeded.) Then, when that doesn't even slightly work, you'll laugh yourself to death. I don't suppose Samehada would respect me for my incredible planning skills."

Kisame-shishou snickered, and Itachi made the aborted choking sound that she'd learned to consider a laugh.

"Nah, Itty Bitty. But someday you'll get there." He ruffled her hair and she narrowed her eyes. Of course, the mild killing intent she'd learned to make only served to encourage him. "After I'm dead." He amended, sharp teeth glinting in the sun.

In another context that might have been rude. Coming from Kisame-shishou, it was actually a compliment about her potential aptitude for murder.

"Your faith in me is appreciated, shishou." She said sourly, with a look in Itachi-san's general direction that meant she wasn't in the mood for any of his (politely worded) "encouraging" comments.

"Time for food." Shishou announced gamely, abruptly turning away. "What do you think is here, Itty Bitty? Anything good?"

"Last time I was here I stayed with a drunk bridgebuilder and his daughter." She admitted. "Tsunami-san is a good cook, but the area was impoverished and heavily policed by thugs. There weren't any businesses to speak of."

"You already have friends in the area, you say?" Her shishou grinned. "It would be rude not to say hello. And you weren't even going to say anything, Sakura-chan. I taught you better than that."

"I've known you for like, two months." Sakura groused. "And Tsunami-san might not appreciate a gaggle of missing-nin showing up on her doorstep. Her son is very impressionable." And obnoxious.

Kisame shrugged. "Missing-nin, or friendly vigilantes?" He queried. "It's all a matter of perspective. Though of course if you insist on being rude, I'm sure that your friends will understand why you came all the way out here and didn't visit them."

Oh, hell. Fine.

"Their house is this way." She gestured with her gigantic sword. "Should we seal this up? And not terrify them?"

"If you insist." Kisame compromised. "We'll be on our best behavior. Right, 'Tachi?"

If she had to pin down Itachi-san's (lack of) reaction, she would call it 'unimpressed'.

"An inadvisable course of action." He said with a hint of a chill in his voice. It made Sakura's hair stand on end.

She wouldn't have expected that Itachi-san would care about potentially terrifying a few civilians. Then again, he usually tried to keep from scaring her - it just didn't always work. Itachi-san really was a nice guy. He just seemed to be wrapped up in a huge layer of 'pants-wettingly scary'. Maybe he hadn't been socialized enough- his awkward attempts at kindness reminded her of Kakashi-sensei sometimes. Like a robot trying trying to learn to love.

_'__Then again, he seems pretty willing to go along with anything Kisame-shishou asks - as long as it doesn't involve killing people. It's odd, when you consider that Shishou is always complaining about how Itachi-san never wants to do his work.'_

"Itachi-san, they're going to be fine." Sakura reassured. "Honestly, if they could deal with Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, and Sasuke and I in a house, I think they can survive anything."

Itachi looked away from her. That was strange. But she wasn't going to pry.

She and her Shishou shared a look. "Let's get going, then." Kisame-shishou suggested, grabbing her shoulder and steering her away. "I bet your friends missed you."

* * *

><p>Tsunami-san was actually very happy to see her, if a little mystified by her current company. Her gaze wandered over Kisame-shishou and Itachi's crossed-out hitai-ites with an absent smile.<p>

Of course, Sakura wasn't wearing a hitai-ite at all. She'd been a ninja (only a technicality, she hadn't even been trained enough that Shishou would let her go into a civilian town alone) for a few months. It seemed stupid to cross out the leaf symbol, or to wear it at all when the fact that she had it was a joke.

Itachi-san and Kisame-shishou, they were the real deal. Terrifying, strong, and intelligent. They could kill her without thinking twice. She was a baby ninja, a glorified Academy student. Kisame-shishou had tried to reassure her that even if she never went home, Konoha wouldn't send a hunter-nin team after her. It wasn't that reassuring but it was probably true. She was a Genin, barely six months out into the field. They wouldn't have expected her to live on her own.

As well they shouldn't. The life of a missing nin was hard. Clients lied, they cheated, they schemed to take your head and bounty. Itachi-san had had one of those missions last week. The man had hired him to do a job (no killing, just the way Itachi-san liked it, just get in and get out) and then set up a trap full of Kumo nin to kill him.

Itachi had come back reeking of blood, even though she knew none of it was on him. He was even less talkative than usual for a few days. Her shishou didn't mention it, so she didn't either.

But today no one smelled of blood (and Samehada had been temporarily put in a seal, away from a child's prying fingers). Sakura's companions looked presentable, if a little unconventional.

So Sakura gave Tsunami-san her most genial smile, and Tsunami-san let them in. Either she had decided that whoever was carting Sakura around wasn't too bad, or that if they wanted something they could easily kill her and take it anyway. Sakura obviously hoped for the former, but Tsunami-san had initially struck her as a realist.

The food was excellent, even though Tazuna-san was just as awful as she remembered (glad you didn't bring that blond idiot –Kisame grinned- or that angry mouthy brunette – she winced but Itachi was perfectly -_terrifyingly_- still). Inari-kun was absolutely fascinated with Kisame-shishou. _'My shishou, brat- get your own.' _she wanted to snarl, but she just struggled to maintain a pleasant look and politely avoided the child's staring.

The whole affair forced her to remember the last time she was here in painful detail.

Sasuke scowling over his food while Naruto yelled. Kakashi lazily reading his disgusting books or subtly encouraging their ridiculous rivalry and forgetting she existed, even after she'd shown how much better she was at chakra control.

"So how do you know Sakura-san?" Kisame asked with a grin.

Sakura suddenly pitied herself even more than previously. She hadn't even considered that Kisame's twisted sense of humor could turn on her in this manner.

Tazuna cleared his throat dramatically and launched into an emphatic story-telling of his epic quest to free Wave Country from tyranny by building a bridge, and her team's part in the whole Kami-forsaken affair.

She stared at her plate blankly and let Tazuna-san's awful grating voice fall into white noise. Sakura wasn't even remotely interested in reliving the Wave mission. She was only subconsciously aware when Tazuna reached the part where the Demon Brothers came out of a puddle.

It was then that Sakura briefly registered the feeling that she was being stared at, and looked up to meet Tazuna-san's bloodshot gaze.

He took another pull from the jug of sake he clung to, and Sakura eyed it with distaste.

"You're the only one that did your job, though." The drunkard mused, and pulled at the stubble on his chin thoughtfully. "You kept me safe when they attacked."

And what did it get her? A big fat load of nothing. Whereas Naruto- who couldn't do his job to save his life, who shouted and fought with Sasuke and never ever did what he was supposed to do- _he got a fucking bridge named after him._

The world seemed to be funny like that.

What had Naruto really done to impress Tazuna-san enough for to name the bridge after him, anyway? He hadn't protected Tazuna, he hadn't defeated Haku or Zabuza, he just shouted and bickered with her other teammate.

Well, there was the point where he shouted moralistic platitudes at Zabuza and somehow harangued him into admitting he was upset about Haku dying. Or maybe it was about how he'd evidently yelled at Inari until he stopped sniveling and grabbed the other villagers. It was hard to say.

She didn't feel like asking, anyway. Sakura was entirely uninterested in listening to an aging alcoholic wax poetic about her irritating teammate. So she'd probably never have the answer.

The last time she was here, she sat at this very table and no one in the room would look twice at her. She wouldn't be surprised or depressed if it was the same this time. Tazuna-san and her old team could go jump off a cliff for all she cared.

Sasuke had dived –dived!- to save Naruto from being pelted with senbon, but no one cared about her. Kakashi hadn't even given her something else to do after she mastered their water walking training.

She hadn't asked, either. She'd just been so accepting of her team.

No- not just accepting,_ happy _whenever they included her. She'd done something right, she was the best at water walking, and she'd been thrilled to be the best at something. Anything. Sakura hadn't even conceived that Kakashi could have or would have given her something else to work on, that training for a ninja was never done until you were dead.

But this time was different, even if Tazuna-san didn't know it. His daughter probably did. After Tsunami-san noticed her friends' headbands, she'd looked at Sakura differently. She was no longer just a little girl in those eyes. Sakura wouldn't peg down the gaze as wary, exactly, but maybe evaluative.

Now she was no longer wearing her headband at all, and traveling with two missing nin of formidable strength. And they –or at least Kisame- cared whether she lived or died as a mediocre ninja. She wouldn't ever sit on the sidelines again if she kept following them, she'd get stronger and stronger until she could act as a teammate for them.

Or kill her shishou and take his place, but that was neither here nor there.

They left after a few hours, once they'd had their fill of civilized company and Tsunami-san sent them away with more food. "You're the best decision I ever made, Itty Bitty, even if you never pan out as an apprentice." her shishou said, holding the package to his chest like it was filled with gold bars.

She couldn't exactly blame him. After two months, she was really getting tired of their food. It wasn't bad, really, but roasted rabbit night after night got pretty damn old. And the roadside dango Itachi seemed to need to live was both expensive and mediocre.

She didn't tell him that, though. He had to have already known, just made do with what was available. Sakura wasn't going to be the one to mess with carefully constructed coping mechanisms.


End file.
